"You Will Surely Die"

Scripture Reading: James 3:13-17

Introduction

Since We’re Now in the 2nd Month of the Year…

That Means We’re Now Looking at Our 2nd Theme…

In Our Year-Long Series of Themes…

That Progressively Tell the Story of Scripture

January was “Creation”

The Theme for February is:

Curse

With Any Good Story…

In the Beginning, Things are Good, as They should Be

But Then Comes a Challenge, Crisis, or Problem

And the Rest of the Story is the Hero Seeking to Fix Things:

To Save the People in Trouble

To Defeat the Bad Guy

To Make All Things Good Again

The Curse is Where the Challenge, Crisis, Problem…

Occurs in the Story of Scripture

Last Month, We Saw How God Created All Things

He Made Humanity & Gave Them the Mission to Rule Over His Creation

Then He Places Humanity in the Paradise Garden of Eden

A Beautiful Park Brimming with Life & Fruit-Bearing Trees

Then the Text Tells Us of 2 Specific Trees in the Garden:

Genesis 2:9 (NASB95)

9 Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

At First, We’re Left to Speculate about These 2 Trees

There’s Obviously Something Special about Them…

But Why are They Important?

What is Their Purpose?

We’re Not Immediately Told Any Information

But as You Keep Reading…

You Find that God Gives a Grave Warning about One of These Trees

A Warning that Hints to Us:

“There’s a Crisis Coming in this Story”

Genesis 2:16–17 (NASB95)

16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

“You Will Surely Die”

Already, Based Upon this Warning…

We’re Able to Make Some Assumptions that Prove True Later in the Text:

All the Trees in the Garden are Good to Eat

But 2 of Them are Special Trees

One Grants Never-Ending Life to Those Who Eat it

One Brings Death to Those Who Eat it

To Learn More about These Trees…

We Need to Read the Story of the Curse

Genesis 3:1–3 (CSB)

1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”

We’re Immediately Introduced to a Talking Snake

This Snake was Said to Be the Most Cunning/Clever/Wise…

Of All the Other Animals

Notice His Question to Eve:

“Does God Not Let You Eat from ANY of These Trees?!”

He’s Trying to Manipulate Her into Thinking…

That God Wants to Keep Things from Them

Eve Corrects the Narrative By Saying:

“No, He Allows Us to Eat of ALL the Trees in the Garden…”

“Except for One - The Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil”

“God Said if We Eat from it, We will Surely Die”

Genesis 3:4 (ESV)

4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.

All He Added was One Little Word to God’s Warning

“God Lied to You!”

Genesis 3:5 (LEB)

5 For God knows that on the day you both eat from it, then your eyes will be opened and you both shall be like gods, knowing good and evil.”

According to the Snake…

Eating the Fruit of this Tree will Open Humanity’s Eyes…

And Grant Them Knowledge that Only Divine Beings Possess:

The Knowledge of Good & Evil

What Does it Mean to have Knowledge of Good & Evil?

A Couple OT Texts Mention that Children Don’t have…

The Knowledge of Good & Evil

It is Obviously Something that Comes with Growth/Maturity

When God Promised to Give Solomon Whatever He Asked for…

Solomon Said:

1 Kings 3:9–10 (LSB)

9 “So give Your slave a listening heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this glorious people of Yours?” 10 And it was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing.

Solomon Asked for a Heart that would Listen to God

And the Result of a Heart that Listens to God…

Is the Ability to Rightly Discern Between What is Good & What is Evil

In a Word, Solomon was Asking for Wisdom

Genesis 3:6 (LSB)

6 Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, so she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

1 Kings Tells Us that God was Pleased with Solomon Asking for Wisdom

If God was Happy that Solomon Wanted Wisdom…

And Happily Gave Solomon Wisdom…

Then Why Does God Not Want Adam & Eve to have it?

Is having Knowledge of Good & Evil/Wisdom a Bad Thing?

No, the Divine Beings have it

It Can’t Be a Bad Thing to have if God has it

So Why Does God Not Want Adam & Eve…

To Be Able to Discern Between Good & Evil?

Ultimately, We’re Getting into Speculation Territory

But I Believe the Short Answer is:

God Does Want Them to have True Wisdom

God Does Want Adam & Eve to Be Able to Rightly Discern…

Between Good & Evil

But Eating the Fruit would Not Accomplish that

In Eating the Fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil…

Their Eyes were Opened…

And They were Given the Ability Discern Between Good & Evil

But Here’s the Problem:

You Take a Small Child & Miraculously Grant Them…

The Wisdom to Understand the Concepts of Good & Evil…

And the Ability to Discern Between the 2…

How Do You Think that will Go?

They’ll Decide that What is Good is:

What Best Benefits Them

What Makes Them Happy

What Satisfies Their Own Cravings & Urges

They’ll Decide that What is Evil is:

What Doesn’t Best Benefit Them

What Doesn’t Make Them Happy

What Doesn’t Satisfy Their Own Cravings & Urges

The Author of Hebrews Scolds His Readers…

Because They haven’t Grown Very Much at All Since Becoming Christians

Then He Says this:

Hebrews 5:13–14 (LSB)

13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern both good and evil.

The Ability to Discern Between What is Truly Good & What is Truly Evil…

Is Something that Must Be Taught, Exercised, Practiced, & Trained

That Means, Unless We Learn from God…

What Things are Good…

And What Things are Evil…

Then We’ll Decide Those Things for Ourselves

We’ll Create Our Own Standards of Good & Evil

We’ll Do What is Right in Our Own Eyes

James 3:13–17 (NIV)

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

When We Create & Follow Our Own Standard of Good & Evil…

We Indulge Our Selfish Desires…

And Treat Others in Whatever Way Feels Best to Us in the Moment

But When We Follow God’s Standard of Good & Evil…

We Humbly Do What is Right…

Even Though that isn’t What Feels Best to Us in the Moment

We Deny Selfish Desires…

And Treat Others the Way We Want to Be Treated

God Wants Humanity to have Wisdom

But True Wisdom can Only Be Learned from Him

Having the Ability to Discern Between Good & Evil…

Does Not Equate to Having the Knowledge…

To Properly Discern Between Good & Evil

Why would Eating the Fruit Bring Death to Adam & Eve?

Because Their Eyes would Be Opened to the Concepts of Good & Evil

They would then Possess the Ability to Discern Good & Evil…

But Not the Knowledge to Properly Discern Good & Evil

They had Not Yet Been Taught/Given the Knowledge…

Of What Things are Truly Good & Truly Evil

So, in Eating the Fruit…

They Received the Ability…

To Create Their Own Standards of Good & Evil

And Doing What is Right in One’s Own Eyes…

Always Leads to Sin & Death

And Unfortunately for the Entire World…

Adam & Eve Ate the Fruit…

And the Rest of Chapter 3 Shows Us the Curse…

That Entered into Creation…

In All its Many Horrible Manifestations:

Genesis 3:7–11 (NIV)

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

We See the Theological Effect of the Curse:

There is Now Distance/Separation Between God & Humanity

Their Relationship isn’t as it Was

We Also See the Personal Effects of the Curse:

Humanity is Ashamed of Their Nakedness

They Look at Themselves…

And Believe There are Things about Them that Need to Be Hidden

There is Now Fear, Anxiety, & Degraded Self-Image

Genesis 3:12–13 (NIV)

12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Genesis 3:16 (NIV)

16 To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

We See the Sociological Effects of the Curse:

Interpersonal Relationships are Now Broken

Adam & Eve are at Odds with Each Other

Their Mission to Be Fruitful, Multiply, & Fill the Earth…

Has Become a Painful Process

Genesis 3:17–19a (NIV)

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food…”

We See the Ecological Effects of the Curse:

The Creation is No Longer as it was

We were to Rule Over it, But Now it Rebels Against Us

We Work & Work & Work But it’s All Futility/Useless Now

Everything Works Against Us & Never Lasts

Everything Grows Old, Undergoes Corruption, & Dies

Genesis 3:19b (NIV)

19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

Genesis 3:22–24 (NIV)

22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Ultimately, We See the Physical Effects of the Curse:

Humanity has Been Exiled from the Paradise Garden…

And From the Tree of Life

“You Will Surely Die”

We Will All Surely Die

That’s the Outcome of Choosing Human Wisdom Over God’s Wisdom

Application

But I Don’t Want to Just Leave You in the Crisis of the Story

I Want to Remind You of the Climax

God Sent Jesus to Live the Perfect Life…

To Show Us How to Live

To Show Us What True Wisdom Looks Like

Jesus Died a Sacrificial Death…

To Rescue Us from Our Sins…

And to Show Us How to Die to Ourselves as Well

Jesus Rose from the Dead…

To Defeat Death & the Curse…

And to Show Us How to Live as a New Humanity…

That has Been Reborn & Restored

And Because of that, We can Read These Wonderful Words:

1 Corinthians 15:20–22 (NIV)

20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

We Will Surely Live

Resurrection to Eternal Life in a Perfectly Restored Creation…

Is Coming for Those Who:

Choose the Wisdom of God Over the Wisdom of Humanity

Don’t Follow Our Own Standard of Good & Evil

Don’t Discern for Ourselves What is Good & What is Evil

Follow God’s Standard of Good & Evil…

That’s Given Through the Law…

And Lived Out By Jesus